Ugh, not much news that interest me today. I don’t give a fig about Jodie Foster’s opinion on the so called ‘problem’ people have with woman directors. And I sure as heck don’t want to hear anymore from the #metoo gallery so you’ll excuse me if I pass on Asia (There’s nothing creepy and disturbing about my dad directing me nude) Argento’s tales from the Harvey crypt. Which leaves us with a small bit of news about a movie that a lot of people hate, but frankly, I love: Zack Snyder’s Watchmen (2009).
I had always heard about Watchmen during the time I was big on comic books but I never got around to actually reading it. When I heard the movie was coming out I decided that it was finally time to rectify that. So I grabbed it up and dug in. I liked it. Thought it was a solid story that presented a good moral dilemma at the end. I thought all the characters were well-rounded and believable. I particularly liked Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian. I often heard rumblings that this book was supposed to be uber subversive and some kind of indictment or statement from Alan Moore about the comic book industry or comic books or something. Look, frankly, 9 out of 10 times I think people insert what they believe a piece of artwork is trying to say rather than what’s actually in there. As for Alan Moore…I’d take anything he has to say with a truckload of salt. He doesn’t strike me as being all there if you know what I mean. So yeah, I thought it was good take on super-heroes, villains and the ultimate goal of “peace in our time”. But for me that was pretty much it.
And that’s, for the most part, what I thought Zack Snyder’s movie delivered. Sure, I didn’t like everything. I thought some parts were way too ‘cover girl’ flossy for my taste. I wasn’t a fan of the change to the ending and I would have loved to have some inserts from Tales of the Black Freighter. But you can’t have everything and I thought that for Snyder directing, he was rather…restrained. Coming from a guy who doesn’t like Snyder and most of his work, that is a pretty big compliment. So yeah, I like the movie, I always return to it. It’s probably number three on my top ten comic movie list. Superman being number one.
As it turns out I’m not alone. Scott Derrickson, director of Doctor Strange (2016), Sinister (2012), Deliver Us From Evil (2014), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) (all movies that I like) is a fan of the film as well. Comicbook.com reports that Derrickson unleashed a tweet declaring the film as his favorite comic book movie to date. In his tweet he’s referring to the ultimate cut which to be honest I’m not sure I’ve watched. Hmn, after a little research I have to say that I defintely haven’t seen this cut as it apparently contains inserts from “Tales of the Black Freighter”! Hot diggity darn, looks like I have something good to watch tonight after all.
